~ J.W.
World Building Religion
by Melinda Moore
Over a decade ago I played in a Dungeons and Dragons game
run by my husband using a pantheon that he had created. Most of the players
understood and embraced the variations from real world religions, but one
player could never quite get it. He played a cleric of a goddess who raised
education above all else, but every time the player filled us in on what the
character was doing during his down time, the character would be polishing
candlesticks or reciting something similar to hail marys--- something from the
real world Catholic church. It never occurred to him maybe his goddess would
want him copying texts or tutoring orphans. He could not or would not buy in to
this different religion created for the game.
When writing, reader's buy in is essential. How do you get
them to accept a different religion for the time it takes to read your story?
Start with the idea that gods are people too. They need to have their own
motivations and histories. The Greek and Nordic gods are wonderful examples.
They have alliances, enemies, petty brawling and humans caught in the middle.
In the fantasy world I'm currently writing I have my gods united in the same
end goal, but they all have different ways of getting there. One reveres
education, one reveres sorcery, and one reveres strife.
Which brings me to my next point: the people should reflect
the desires of the gods. The people in the country of the goddess who upholds
education are governed by women, teaching is a prestigious occupation and
science is far more important than magic. Their next door neighbor worships the
god who holds magic above all else. They mostly are governed by men, but a
woman sorceress isn't that unusual. But on the other side is chaos because
their god holds up strife as the essential ingredient to the progression of the
soul.
The trickle down from gods to people ends in the details.
What are the religious leaders called? What do the structures look like where
they worship? Do the gods intervene regularly? For my world, I've tried to find
neutral words that people can still connect to. I use “mystic”
for the religious leaders though for a long time I was using “sage.”
I think both those words have real world religious neutrality but still imply
spirituality. The structures for the goddess look a lot like Greek temples
because the ancient Greeks had a love for knowledge and I'm hoping that will
subconsciously work its way to the reader. It's been much harder figuring out
the structures for the god of strife. For now I've settled on the very back of
the cavern the people dwell in as opposed to making a special structure out in
the open. The darkness seems to fit better.
But what about stories set in an alternate universe of our
own? I think in that case continuity and balance are essential. I know everybody
loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that world seems really off balance to me.
The demons and vampires had structure and hierarchy, whereas “The
Powers that Be” for the good just seemed to cross their fingers
and close their eyes and hope that Buffy and Angel would save the day again. It
never rang true to me that Buffy would never seek out any of the real world
religions available to her. A better example for writers to follow is Xena.
While it's ridiculous to think about the amount of miles Xena and Gabrielle
walked in the short amount of time they had, at least they made the effort to
seek out help from gods outside of Greece. They covered India, Israel and China
and a bit of Amazon religions thrown in for good measure.
Outside of good/evil balance, when writing stories about
religions in our own world where the gods make material gestures seen or felt
by the human characters, realistic reactions are important. In my novella “A
Sunset Finish” being published by JupiterGardens Press, my protagonist perceives the Tao or the Watercourse
way inside herself while her love interest has lived all his life seeing the
Sunset People--- guides to the afterlife for his pueblo. The protagonist always
feels like she's drowning in the Tao and is constantly on the verge of suicide,
making a rocky journey with her love interest who's been taught by the Sunset
People the sanctity of life. The push and pull of their religious experiences
provides part of the tension of the story. I think one of the reasons it got
accepted for publication is the believable reactions to each other and the
religious experiences.
So don't shy away from religion when world building. Embrace
it. For three hundred pages make your reader a believer in Xanton God of
Treasure of Kyra Goddess of Light. Just remember: Gods are people too.
Thanks to J.W. Alden for allowing me to guest blog here
while he's away at Odyssey. If you enjoyed my post please visit enchantedspark.com.
I talk about what inspires stories and host a monthly writing contest for a $30
prize.
This is a good reminder. I don't shy away from religion, but this appears to be a topic I don't even think about it when I'm world building. I have one series I'm working on with heavy religious themes, some real, mostly made up. Other than that, I can't say it ever crosses my mind! And it sounds like it could be a lot of fun, too.
ReplyDeleteThe days of D&D...
ReplyDeleteI didn't use religion in my books. While I had no problem pretending for D&D, writing it myself felt different. It was simpler to leave it out of the trilogy.
There are some great science fiction that use a type of religion like Dune or BSG. It can make the characters more rounded.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melinda. Your advice has arrived at the perfect time for me. I'm struggling with religion in the world I've created. This:
ReplyDelete"Which brings me to my next point: the people should reflect the desires of the gods." practically shouted at me. Yes! It's exactly what was missing in my world. Thank you.